How Kamala Harris Failed to Connect with the Undecided Voter
Article by Editor-in-Chief Eshaam Bhattad
As news stations across the country reported on state projections, the 2024 Presidential Election didn’t seem as close as it should’ve. As election night in America started with a hasty lead for the former president, it never seemed to get any closer. Call after call, Democrats across the country prayed that the “red mirage” would come to a close and the blue wall, encompassing the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, would pull through for the Vice President. Hour after hour, seeping into the next day, that dream seemed to have died in the darkness. At 5:34 a.m. ET, the Associated Press called the Race for the Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump.
As crowds gathered outside Howard University the following afternoon to hear Vice President Harris address the nation, some having stayed the whole night waiting to hear from her, her concession speech felt lachrymose:
“Hear me when I say the light of America’s promise will always burn bright,” Harris said. “As long as we never give up. And as long as we keep fighting.”
Harris touched the emotions of Democrats everywhere, rallying them with the thought of a greater fight, one larger than even the presidential election. But in truth, the election loss seems to be the fault of a large absence of undecided voters, that everyone believed to side with Harris. In failing to capture or turnout these votes, distance herself from the faults of the economy in the Biden-Harris administration, and make a progressive stance on Israel-Gaza, I find that Harris didn’t do everything to market herself as a better candidate than Donald Trump, losing in the process.
It’s worth noting that Trump’s flaws are endless. From being a multi-decade tax cheat to a convicted sex offender, on a moral level, Trump shouldn’t have any basis in this election. More perplexing, it feels as though not even his former White House staff, from his Chief of Staff John Kelly to numerous interns, ever felt him to be a proper representation of America’s ideals. Even still, the Trump-Vance campaign sheltered these ideas with the appropriate public response, criticizing the media and adopting an almost Kanye-stan-like mentality in “separating the art from the artist.” But these ideas appealed to the people Trump needed them to –– and pushed the voters who he needed to his side.
Trump’s campaign was also equally, if not worse, run. Yet Kamala Harris’ did what Democrats didn’t wish for her: in an attempt to secure the undecided voter, she lost the votes of many important progressives. The endorsements by Liz and Dick Cheney were important to convincing the undecided voter, but not to the extent of parading them around and reshaping the party’s viewpoints. Distancing herself from President Biden, she attempted to appeal to Republicans, people already set into their views and ideals, to swing the tides of the presidency. In my eyes, this was the exact wrong approach – the undecided voter doesn’t want to see a candidate make concessions, but actually approach the issues that matter. Relinquishing your views and being a more moderate candidate is just not what Americans of today value. If Trump is an example of anything, it’s that false bravado and sheer confidence win elections, regardless of the aptitudes or preparedness of their plans.
Harris also estranged herself from the votes she needed to capture. The divisive issue of Israel-Palestine was never meant to be won universally, but expressing more support than her predecessor for the Arab communities was the exact game plan to help her win back key districts in Michigan and Pennsylvania. But in having contradictory stances and continuing the problematic stance of Biden’s full, blind check of Israel, many of those votes went to either her opponent or a third-party challenger like Jill Stein.
Then, in losing the majority of the undecided voters, the subject of the economy. To an educated, informed mind, one can recognize how the Biden-Harris administration's legislative priorities and subjects actually stimulated the economy far more than it hurt. But the inflationary practices in which they engaged had their drawbacks, especially given the substantial increase in government spending measures that rose under their term. While it’s hardly their fault that global inflation happened to rise, especially inheriting a mid-pandemic economy from the Trump administration, as well as global supply shocks in 2022 and 2023, Harris gave Trump something to capitalize on, which he didn’t take lightly.
The inability to distance herself from the economy was one of the many reasons, as many undecided Michigan voters reported, that she didn’t earn the votes needed to win those battleground states. The Vice Presidency is very much a title-only position, with the abilities of the job being very minor compared to the President themselves. As such, Harris found herself in a catch-22, inheriting all of the flaws of the Biden administration, while having no autonomy to change the situation. In the voters eyes, she’s brandished by the negatives of the administration, primarily the economy, while also having no personal accomplishments and powers to change their minds. Going into the election, this was easily weaponized by Trump and Vance, hounding her specifically on border policies which swayed a lot of undecided voters as to the vision of the next four years.
But the final reason in my eyes is the mismanagement of the campaign. This can be attributed to a host of sources, but President Biden and the executives running her campaign really messed up the way people interpreted the mission of the Democratic Party. For one, President Biden should have known that despite his age and tenured experience in Capitol Hill, that he wasn’t shaping up for another race against Trump. It wouldn’t have worked, and it would have been too challenging on him physically, and for the Democratic Party. Strategically relinquishing himself early would have made it a lot easier for Harris especially to solidify a stronger strategy, rather than seemingly throwing things together.
But secondarily, focusing her efforts on progressives. Many of the criticisms of her campaign, that I myself agree with her, were her deviations from the Democratic voter base. It seems that for many of her appeals, like earlier mentions of Liz and Dick Cheney, while also stifling more progressive views seemed to paint a picture in many voters minds of a woman who was willing to compromise. While many criticize Trump, undecided voters give credence to his “powerful” persona when in office. Despite my personal reservations with the sexist lens of that perspective, compromising the party’s belief to “rise above politics,” wasn’t done with the perfect execution, and led to the drop off of many citizens that could have swayed this election.
Whether Harris’ fault or not, this election said a lot about the state of politics in America. Watching Harris do things no candidate has gave me immense pride, but the low of seeing the projection of a democracy defiler rise back to office is hard to shake. With all of that, this is arguably the best lesson to teach the incredibly overconfident democratic party: don’t let polls dictate your performance, don’t stray away from the working class, and be more realistic about how long you CAN serve.
With all the reservations and emotions after election night, I do very much identify with Harris’ message to youth like me: “On the campaign, I would often say, when we fight, we win. But here's the thing, here's the thing. Sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn't mean we won't win. The important thing is don't ever give up. Don't ever stop trying to make the world a better place.”
In the next two years, we will witness the rise of Trump’s second term, one I anticipate to be filled with disaster and continual defiling of Democracy. And while he controls the House and the Senate, it seems we, the youth and the country are powerless to stop it. In truth, we aren’t. It’s our job to start now, advocating for our beliefs, championing rights over wrongs, and pushing for new, more representative candidates. Because yes, America chose Trump over Harris, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to do right by the country. To hold him accountable will require sacrifice, hardship, and resilience, but it is something that having been with this organization for four years, I know is possible.